Automotive Electronics

Mains not only flows into electric cars for charging. Some electric or hybrid vehicles include inverters to allow the mains equipment to be powered by the vehicle battery, including for use when the owners house has a power cut. To protect the users of such mains outputs, Rohm is offering an automotive grade chip for built-in RCDs (residual current devices) ...

Molex has introduced an industrial connector family that exceed IP67 and can be submerged in various fluids. Called MX150L, it “supports low-level signals as well as power applications up to 40A”, said the firm. “Customers can choose from wire-to-wire, wire-to-panel and wire-to-board configurations and a wide range of wire styles and insulation thicknesses.” Applications are expected in commercial vehicles, marine ...

One of the 'quiet' technological revolutions of the past ten to twenty years has been in relation to the efficiency and performance of batteries. As our world has become increasingly mobile, we rely on compact and effective portable power supplies to achieve best performance from our cameras, laptop computers, tablets, mobile phones and more recently, cars.

Switchtec is selling a power relay from Hongfa which can be used in the storage of electric vehicles without battery drain

Australia-based CAP-XX has developed a supercapacitor module for starting car engines. Its aim is to reduce wear on the main battery by providing up to 300A of starter current in...

Recently IGBTs have become important components in the design of electric vehicles and hybrid cars

Until recently, NiMH was the battery chemistry of choice for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). However, the economic justification was marginal at best. Next-generation Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries provide a more viable solution since they offer an energy storage density improvement of 150%.

Cambridge University’s supercapacitors could be used to power electric vehicles Harry Yeates Researchers at Cambridge University are developing electrode materials for very high performance supercapacitors that could be used to power electric vehicles. The university is also looking for investors to help commercialise the technology. By coating multi-walled carbon nanotubes with a very thin layer of a conductive polymer called polypyrrole, ...